Will eBay Make a Play for Yahoo's Asian Crown Jewels?

Yahoo's (YHOO) stakes in Asian assets including Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba Group are likely to be in play. According to the Financial Times, these holdings are governed by very specific rules restricting share sales. In all cases, fellow shareholders are offered first right of refusal. This means that even if Yahoo! and Microsoft (MSFT) arrive at an agreement, it is unlikely that ownership of these stakes would pass over very easily.

A key player in how this goes down is Softbank (SFTBF.PK), the Japanese mobile telephone and Internet group. Softbank is the largest shareholder in Yahoo Japan, and also owns one-third of Alibaba Group. Despite being financially stretched, Softbank will certainly have a say in who their new partner will be if Yahoo is bought, and I am not sure Microsoft will be top of their list.

I have said since the beginning not to count out eBay (EBAY) in the Asian asset dance as it has both the cash and the appetite. In fact, in a recent interview with Meg Whitman, when asked what her biggest regret of her 10 year tenure was, she said not being able to build a presence in Japan. She has another three weeks to fix that.

Comments

[John Capozzi:]

SOFTBANK AND ALLIBBA TEAM UP AND BUY OUT YAHOO USA WITH THE HELP OF CHINESE GOVERNMENT I FUNDING IF NEEDED WITH NEWS CORP OFFERING MY SPACE FOR A SHARE IN THE NEW YAHOO. ALLIBBA AND SOFTBANK WITH NEWSCORP EQUALS A 45 TO 50 DOLLARS OFFER IN SHARE PRICE. THEY WILL BE INVESTING IN THEMSELVES AND LOOK FOR A MAJOR ANOUNCEMENT AT ANYTIME. I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR A MONTH NOW. YOUR TAKE JUST MADE ME MORE POSITIVE IT WILL GO THROUGH.

2008 Mar 10 09:50 AM